Lubricators for fastening devices



July 26, 1955 L. E. soLDAN LUBRICATORS FOR FASTENING DEVICES Filed April 4 1951 INVENTOR. Lew/s E. So/dan A TTOR/VEY United States Patent O 2,713,694 LUBRICATORS FOR FASTENING DEVICES Y Lewis E. Soldan, San Diego, Calif.

Application April 4, 1951, Serial No. 219,162

Claims. (Cl. 15210) This invention relates to improvements in lubricators. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in lubricators which can be used to lubricate the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved lubricator which can be used to lubricate the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners.

During the past few years, readily separable fasteners have displaced buttons as securing means for clothing and other articles. These readily separable fasteners have two sets of aligned teeth which are complemetary to each other and are selectively engagable with and disengageable from each other by a slide. When properly made, and when properly lubricated, these separable fasteners are readily made open and close To insure that the readily separable fasteners do operate effectively, it is the practice of manufacturers of such fasteners to provide them with an initial film of lubricant. ,A

When the materials or garments with which the readily separable fasteners are used are cleaned, usually by mineral solvents, the lihn of lubricant on the active surfaces of those teeth of such readily separable fasteners is dissolved and carried away. Consequently, in all too many cases, the readily separable fasteners are insutiiciently lubricated when they are returned to the user by the cleaning establishment which Vcleaned the material or garment to which the fasteners are secured. In many and repeated instances, difficulty has been experienced in getting the readily separable fasteners to open and close This diiculty frequently causes the user to exert undue forces on the slides of the readily separable fasteners, and in many instances these forces can cause excessive wear of the readily separable fasteners and can even cause those fasteners to break. Moreover, those forcesl can strain or pull the material or garments with which the d readily separable fasteners are used. In addition, readily separable fasteners that are hard to operate frequently lead to the snagging of the material or garment with which they are used in the teeth of the readily separable fastener. l

In many instances, the owner of the material or garment will attempt to apply a lm of lubricant to the active surfaces of the teeth of such fasteners, in an effort tol make them easier to open and clos/e. In some instances, those persons apply a small amount of petroleum jelly to one end of a nger and run that nger along the active surfaces of the teeth of the readily separable fasteners. This method is generally unsatisfactory because the fingers are usually much wider than the active surfaces of the teeth of the readily separable fasteners and thus the edges of the fingers tend to place the petroleum jelly in engagement with the material or garment on which the readily separable fasteners are mounted. This result is enhanced by the tendency of the petroleum jelly to spread over the surface of the finger as the temperature of the body warms and melts that petroleum jelly. In all too many instances, more ofthe petroleum jelly nds its way onto the material or garment with which the readily separable fasteners are used than it does onto the active surfaces of the teeth of such readily separable fasteners. In other instances, persons have attempted to apply drops of oil to the active surfaces of the teeth of the readily separable fasteners. Since it is extremely difficult to obtain quantities of oil of less than drop size, this invariably results in the application of an excessive amount of oil to the active surfaces of the teeth of the readily separable fastener; and such excess of oil generally leads to' staining of the material or garments with which the readily separable fasteners are associated. The use lof an oil-impregnated cloth to lubricate the active surfaces of the teeth of the readily separable fasteners is often essayed, but the lubricant tends to spread throughout the cloth and the cloth tends to cause that lubricant to touch and stain the material or garment with which the readily separable fasteners are used.

The present invention obviates staining of the garments or material with which readily separable fasteners are associated, and still provides adequate lubrication of the active surfaces of the teeth of such fasteners by providing a lubricator which spaces the material or garment away from the teeth ofthe readily separable fasteners during the lubricating operation. In this way, the desired lubrication of the teeth of the readily separable fasteners is effected without any staining or discoloring of the material or the garment, and without any loss of the lubricant. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lubricator for readily separable fasteners which spaces the material or the garmentaway from the teeth of the readily separable fasteners while those teeth ar being lubricated.

The lubricator provided by the present invention has a frame which telescopes over the teeth of a readily separable fastener and which can then be compressed to place it in holding relation with the rear surfaces of those teeth. Such a frame can then be moved along the teeth without becoming separated from those teeth. In addition, the lubricator provided by the present invention has a support which carries a lubricant-impregnated surface that can be pressed against the active surfaces of the teeth of the readily separable fasteners. The frame and the support can be acted upon by the ngers of one hand and thus the lubrication of the teeth of the readily separable fastener is easily effected., Once the lubricating operation is over, theuser need only release the pressure on the support for the lubricant-impregnated surface and on theV frame of the lubricator and then the lubricator is readily separable from the teeth of the readily separable fastener. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lubricator with a frame which can be compressed into holding engagement with the rear of the teeth of readily separable fasteners and which has a support that can urge a lubricant-impregnated surface into engagement lwith the active surfaces of the teeth of the readily separable fasteners.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from an examination of the drawing and accompanying description.

Inthe drawing and accompanying description, a pre1 ferred embodiment of the present invention is shown and described but it is to be understood that the drawing and accompanying description are for the purpose of illustration only and do not limit the invention and that `the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing, j

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a lubricator that is made in accordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention, and it shows that lubricator being used to apply lubricant to the active surfaces of the teeth of a readily separable fastener,

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the lubricator shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional end view of the lubricator shown in Figs. l and 2, and it is taken along the plane which is denoted by the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral lil denotes the generally Ushaped frame of the lubricator provided by the present invention. The frame 10 has arms thereof disposed so they normally diverge as they move from the closed end to the open end of that frame. inwardly directed flanges 12 are provided on the arms of the frame adjacent the open end of that frame. The ends of the anges 12 are suitably bevelled to render them smooth and able to slide along the back of the teeth of readily separable fasteners. Outwardly directed flanges 14 are formed on the arms of the frame 10 adjacent the open end of that frame. The outer surfaces of these outwardly directed flanges 14 are suitably smooth so those flanges can freely slide along relativo to the material or the garments with which the readily the teeth 20 secured to the tape 22 or the teeth 24 sefil' cured to the tape 26 of a readily separable fastener. These teeth 24 and 20 are aligned and are staggered relative to each other. As the result, movement of the slide 28 to the right, as viewed in Fig. l, will cause the teeth to interrnesh and hold each other in closed" po- 3' sition, while movement of that slide to the left, as viewedin Fig. l, will enable those teeth to separate from each other and open The tapes 22 and 26 are customarily secured to the edges of the material or garment and act to maintain the readily separable fastener in assembled relation with such material or garments. Opening or closing of the readily separable fasteners will effectively open or close gaps or openings in the material or garments.

A support 30 is dimensioned to fit within and be confined and guided by the portion of the closed end of frame 10 which defines the opening 16. That portion of the closed end thus is a guide. The support 30 has a generally U-shaped configuration, but it has closures 31 adjacent the upper end thereof which extend between the arms of that support. The sides of the support 30 and the closures 31 form a recess at the upper end of the support 30. Inwardly directed projections 32 are formed on the lower ends of the arms of the support 30. These projections are circular in configuration and act as pivots for an oil-impregnated lubricating surface. This surface will preferably be circular in configuration and will rotate freely on the projections 32. In one preferred form of the invention, the surface 34 is an annulus of hard felt which is impregnated with a lubricant which is stainless under heat and pressure.

The arms of the support 30 can be spread apart, because of the flexibility of the material of which the sup-l port 30 is made, to permit the lubricant-impregnated applicator 34 to be telescoped within the arms of that support and to be placed in register with the projections 32. Thereafter, the spreading force on the arms of the support 30 can be released, and then the arms of that support will move toward each other and cause the projections 32 to telescope into the opening in the center of the applicator 34.

A locking plate 36 is dimensioned to fit between the arms of the support 30 and to engage and be held by the stops 18 on the closed end of the frame 10. To assemble the support 30 with the frame 10, it is only necessary to place the support 30 below the closed end of frame 10 so the upper end of the support 30 is in register with the opening 16. Thereafter, the upper end of the support 30 can be moved upwardly through the opening 16 until the stops 42 on the sides of the support 39 engage and are held by the under surface of the closed end of the frame 10. At such time, the closures 31 on the support 30 will be spaced well above the outer surface of the closed end of frame 10, and there will be ample room for the locking plate 36 to be passed through the space between the arms of the support 30 and to be set between the stops 18. This locking plate Y will then prevent separation of the support 30 from the frame 10. Thereafter, the helical spring 40 is inserted f between the closed upper end of the support 30 and the locking plate 36, and that spring will be held in that position by the coniining action of the sides of support 30 and closures 31. This spring will bias the support 30 away from the open end of the frame 10. The support 3i) and the frame 1E) and the applicator 34 are usually dimensioned so the applicator 34 will be out of engagement with the active surfaces of the teeth of the readily separable fasteners when the inwardly directed flanges 12 are placed in engagement with the rear surfaces of those teeth. However, if desired, the support 30, the frame 10 and the applicator could be dimensioned so the applicator 34 directly engages the active surfaces of the teeth 20 and 24 as soon as the anges 12 are placed in engagement with the rear surfaces of such teeth. Such an arrangement would eliminate any need of reciprocating the support 30.

To use the lubricator shown in the drawing, it is only necessary to grasp the arms of the frame 10 between the thumb and middle finger of one hand and to place the index finger on the upper end of the support 3l). Thereafter, the arms of the frame 10 are telescoped over the aligned teeth 20 or 24 of the readily separable fasteners until the anges 12 are in register with the rear surfaces of the teeth 2l) and 24. Thereafter, the arms of the frame 10 are bent toward each other until the inwardly directed flanges 12 underlie the rear surfaces of the teeth 2) and 24. Such a relation of flanges 12 and the teeth 20 or 24 will maintain the frame 10 in assembled relation with those teeth while the lubricator is moved backwards and forwards along those teeth. Thereupon, the index finger can be moved to place the applicator 34 in engagement with the active surfaces of the teeth 20 or 24; the index finger pushing the support 30 inwardly against the force exerted on that support by a spring 40. While the applicator 34 is in engagement with the active surfaces of the teeth 2t) or 24, the frame 10 is reciprocated along the aligned teeth; the applicator 34 rolling along those active surfaces of the teeth and applying a thin film of lubricant to those active surfaces. It has been found that one movement of the lubricator along the teeth 20 and one movement of the lubricator along the teeth 24 is usually adequate to provide the needed lubricant film on the active surfaces of those teeth. As the lubricator is moved along the teeth 20 or 24, the outwardly directed flanges 14 underlie the material or garment to which the readily separable fasteners are secured and hold that material or garment away from the teeth 20 or 24. In addition, the arms of the frame 10 protect the material or the garment against bodily engagement with the applicator 34. This applicator will apply just a thin film of lubricant to the active surfaces of the teeth and will not apply an undue amount of such lubricant.

The stops 42 on the support 30 not only facilitate the assembly of the various parts of the` lubricator but they also hold the applicator 34 out of engagement with the closed end of the frame 10. Thus the applicator 34 maintains its true annular form and there is no pressure on the applicator 34 which could cause it to transfer lubricant to the closed end of the frame 10.

The lubricator' provided by the present invention is simple and easy to manufacture. lFor example, there are only tive parts: the frame, the support, the applicator, the locking plate, and the spring. In addition, the various parts of the lubricator are assembled without any need of riveting, welding or bolting the parts together.

Whereas a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described in the drawing and accompanying description, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the form of the invention without affecting the scope thereof.

What I claim is:

l. A lubricator, for the active surfaces of the-aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners which are selectively engageable with and disengageable from the complementary teeth of such fasteners, that comprises a generally U-shaped frame, inwardlydirected flanges on the arms of said frame adjacent the open end of said frame, outwardly directed angcs on said arms of said frame adjacent said open end of said frame, said inwardly directed anges being in register with each other, a reciprocable support, a guide on said framethat slidably confines and guides said support for reciprocation relative to said frame, each of said arms of said frame defining an axis, said guide having the axis thereof substantially parallel with said axes of said frame, whereby said guide can confine and guide said support for reciprocation parallel to said axes of said frame, a lubricating wheel rotatably mounted on and movable with one end of said support, and a spring biasing said support and the lubricating wheel mounted thereon away from said open end of said frame, said arms of said frame normally holding said inwardly directed flanges apart a distance greater than the thickness of said teeth so said inwardly directed anges can readily telescope over said teeth, said frame being bendable to reduce the spacing between said inwardly directed flanges to aV distance less than the thickness of said teeth so said inwardly directed anges can engage the rear surfaces of said teeth and prevent separation of said teeth and said frame, said spring being yieldable to permit said support to be moved and said lubricating wheel engaged with the active surfaces `of said teeth, said support and said frame being dimensioned so said frame can be bent and said support can be moved inwardly with the iingers of one hand, whereby said lubricating wheel can be moved along the active surfaces of said teeth while said lubricator is held in assembled relation with said teeth, said outwardly directed anges holding the material on which said fasteners are mounted away from said teeth while the active surfaces of said teeth are being lubrictaed.

2. A lubricator, for the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners which are selectively engageable with and disengageable from the complementary teeth of such fasteners, that comprises a generally U-shaped frame, inwardly directed anges on the arms of said frame adjacent the open end of said frame, said ilanges being in register with each other, a reciprocable support, aV guide on said frame that slidably confines and guides said support for reciprocation relative to said frame, each of said arms of said frame defining an axis, said guide having the axis thereof substantially parallel to said axes of said frame, a lubricant-impregnated surface mounted on and movable with said support, and a spring biasing said support and the lubricantimpregnated surface mounted thereon away from said open end of said frame, said arms of said frame normally holding said flanges apart a distance greater than the thickness of said teeth so said ianges can readily telescope over said teeth, said frame being bendable to reduce the spacing between said flanges to a distance less than the thickness of said teeth so said flanges can engage the rear surfaces of said teeth and prevent separation of said teeth and said frame, said spring being yieldable to permit said support to be moved and said lubricant-impregnated surface engaged with the active surfaces of said teeth, said support and said frame being dimensioned so said frame can be bent and said support can be moved inwardly with the fingers of one hand, whereby said lubricant-impregnated surface can be moved along the active surfaces of said teeth while said lubricator is held in engagement with said teeth.

3. A lubricator, for the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners which are selectively engageable with and disengageable from the complementary teeth of such fasteners, that comprises a generally U-shaped frame, inwardly directed anges on the arms of said frame adjacent the open end of said frame, said flanges being in register with each other, and a lubricant-impregnated surface mounted on said frame, said arms of said frame being movable relative to said lubri-l cant-impregnated surface and normally holding said anges apart a distance greater than the thickness of said teeth so said flanges can readily telescope over said teeth, said frame being bendable to reduce the spacing between said flanges to a distance less than the thickness of said teeth so said flanges can engage the rear surfaces of said teeth and prevent separation of said teeth and said frame, said frame being dimensioned so it can be bent with the fingers of one hand, whereby said lubricant-impregnated surface can be moved along the active surfaces of said teeth while said lubricator is held in engagement with said teeth.

4. A lubricator, for the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners which are selectively engageable with and disengageable from the complementary teeth of such fasteners, that comprises a generally U-shaped frame, inwardly directed anges on the arms of said frame adjacent the open end of said frame, said flanges being in register with each other, and a lubricant-impregnated surface mounted on and rotatable relative to said frame, said lubricant-impregnated surface being cylindrical in configuration, said arms of said frame normally holding said flanges apart a distance greater than the thickness of said teeth so said flanges can readily telescope over said teeth, said frame being bendable to reduce the spacing between said anges to a distance less than the thickness of said teeth to said flanges can engage the rear surfaces of said teeth and prevent separation of said teeth and said frame, said frame being dimensioned so it can be bent inwardly with the fingers of one hand, whereby said lubricant-impregnated surface can be moved along the active surfaces of said teeth while said lubricator is held in engagement with said teeth.

5. A lubricator, for the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners which are selectively engageable with and disengageable from the complementary teeth of such fasteners, that comprises a generally U-shaped frame, inwardly directed flanges on the arms of said frame adjacent the open end of said frame, said anges being in register with each other, a reciprocable support, a guide on said frame that slidably connes and guides said support for reciprocation toward and away from the open end of said frame in a direction generally parallel to said arms, and a lubricant-impregnated surface mounted on and movable with said support, said arms of said frame normally holding said iianges apart a distance greater than the thickness of said teeth so said anges can readily telescope over said teeth, said frame being bendable to reduce the spacing between said flangs to a distance less than the thickness of said teeth so said anges can engage the rear surfaces of said teeth and prevent separation of said teeth and said frame, said support and said frame being dimensioned so said frame can be bent and said support can be moved inwardly with the fingers of one hand, whereby said lubricant-impregnated surface can be moved along the active surfaces of said teeth while said lubricator is held in engagement with said teeth.

6. A lubrcator, for the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners which are selectively engageable with and disengageable from the complementary teeth of such fasteners, that comprises a generally U-shaped frame with spaced arms thereon, a support held by said frame, and a lubricant-impregnated surface mounted on said support, said arms of said frame being bendable to engage and be held by the teeth of said readily separable fasteners, said support and said frame being dimensioned so said frame can be bent and said support can be moved inwardly with the lingers of one hand, whereby said lubricant-impregnated surface can be moved along the active surfaces of said teeth while said lubricator is held in engagement with said teeth.

7. A lubricator, for the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners which are selectively engageable with and disengageable from the complementary teeth of such fasteners, that comprises a generally U-shaped frame, inwardly directed anges on the arms of said frame adjacent the open end of said frame, said flanges being in register with each other, a reciprocable support, a guide on said frame that slidably connes and guides said support for reciprocation relative to said frame, each of said arms of said frame defining an axis, said guide having the axis thereof substantially parallel to said axes of said frame, a lubricant-impregnated surface mounted on and movable with said support, and a spring biasing said support and the lubricant-impregnated surface mounted thereon away from said open end of said frame, said spring being yieldable to permit said support to be moved and said lubricant-impregnated surface engaged with the active surfaces of said teeth, said arms of said frame being bendable to place the llanges thereon in engagement with the teeth of said readily separable fastener.

8. A lubricator, for the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners which are selectively engageable with and disengageable from the complementary teeth of such fasteners, that comprises a generally U-shaped frame, a reciprocable support, a guide on the closed end of said frame that slidably contines and guides said support for reciprocation toward and away from the open end of said frame in a direction generally parallel with the arms of said frame, a lubricant-impregnated surface on said support, and a locking plate, said support having an opening therein to receive said locking plate, said guide on said frame defining an opening, said support having one end thereof insertable through said opening in said frame and said locking plate being disposable in said opening in said support to maintain said frame and said support in assembled relation.

9. A lubricator, for the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners which are selectively engageable with and disengageable from the complementary teeth of such fasteners, that comprises a generally U-shaped frame with spaced arms and an open end, a reciprocable support, each of said arms of said frame defining an axis, a guide on said frame that has the axis thereof substantially parallel to said axes of said frame and that slidably confines and guides said support for reciprocation toward and away from said open end of said frame, a. lubricant-impregnated surface mounted on and movable with said support, and a spring biasing said support and the lubricant-impregnated surface mounted thereon away from said open end of said frame, said spring being yieldable to permit said support to be moved and said lubricant-impregnated surface engaged with the active surfaces of said teeth.

l0. A lubricator, for the active surfaces of the aligned teeth of readily separable fasteners which are selectively1 engageable with and disengageable from the complementary teeth of said fasteners, that comprises a generally U-shaped frame with spaced arms and an open end, a lubricant-impregnated surface rotatably mounted on said frame and disposed between said arms and in register with said open end, said lubricant-impregnated surface being cylindrical in configuration to roll along the active surfaces of said teeth and lubricate them while said arms isolate said lubricant-impregnated surface from the material to which said fasteners are secured.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,978,716 Morehouse Oct. 30, 1934 2,134,806 Shough Nov. l, 1938 

